Sugaring

We have one big Maple tree on our property, and we wanted to try making our own maple syrup. We researched the "how-to" and then ordered spiles and tubing online. On February 28th we tapped the tree, and the sap started flowing right away. We were very excited!

We collected sap daily and kept it in the freezer to prevent spoilage. A little over a week later we had collected 5 gallons of sap and where ready to start boiling. Lacking anything resembling an evaporator, we used an electric griddle, and that worked just fine.

All day long we kept adding more sap and evaporated most of it. By late afternoon we were ready to finish it off on the stove.

Not too much later it reached the final temperature and I filled my two half pint jars with beautiful syrup.

Looks gorgeous, doesn't it?
We let the jars cool down, and the next morning made a batch of pancakes to have with our first ever homemade syrup. Luckily I tried the stuff before pouring it over the pancakes, or I would have ruined a perfectly good batch of pancakes too... It tasted horrible, the concentrated version of the weird smell it had while boiling off. Woodsy and not good at all.
I dumped the syrup down the drain and searched the world wide web to figure out what went wrong. I knew our Maple wasn't a Sugar Maple, and apparently what I have buds early. Long story short, there are chemical changes in the sap that result in the buds swelling, changing the flavor of the sap, and putting an end to sugaring season. We will try again next year, and even though we don't have any syrup to show for it, we've learned the process.

But next time I'll definitely keep a closer eye on the branches!